just because....

I really like the way that this is turning out. My admission to the crowds is that I'm realizing how much I like working in this style, but I'd never tell to any of my other paintings. ;)

Time to get off the procrastination horse and pack my suitcase!

-Josh Grabowski

progress shots that progressively blur.

There is a little bit of bad and good news here. First some bad news: since I just couldn't seems to speed-dry the oils fast enough, not all six that I set out to finish over the weekend will be done in time. Now, some good news: the roses are coming along beautifully. Some more background work (which is debatable) and some final color glazing will be sure to finish these pieces off. Below is a picture of the "home and gardens" piece. Not 100% complete at this stage and although this picture was taken with a regular digital camera, apparently my horribly shaky hands leave me with yet another blurry F-ing picture. Total FML type shit here, I'm tellin ya! Even though the pictures are to be recording the progress, they are progressively blurring. Thanks bartender, I'll have another round.


Tomorrow I'm takin a little plane ride back to the midwest. Lucky me! Land of beer and cheese awaits me!

-Josh Grabowski

The Study of Roses

Today has been the great start to a weekend saturated with art, more directly my art. If the universe aligns and my hard work and commitment leave completed pieces in my hands, art sales could come through which would make me a very happy boy! (all the more reason to keep goin!) Below are two rose pieces that I have worked on today. You'll notice the left piece is a little different than what was posted earlier with a few minor changes. The piece on the right is the newest to join the bunch and has the most work left to go.


Another that I like to think of as my "home and gardens" piece is posted below. For some reason I feel like this is just something that you would find in one of those types of magazines... or in someone's bathroom. (note: anyone with floral print bathroom/office/bedroom/etc looking to "jazz it up" with some fresh oil paintings, let me know!) Still toying with the idea of changing the green area of the picture to a deep maroon color, but not sure. I like the way that all three of these paintings form a link between each other, especially when you can see them all at once like this.


If for whatever reason clicking on the image doesn't make it larger, you can click here: top left - top right - bottom or visit my blog directly.

Thanks for checking me out everyone! :-P

-Josh Grabowski

Painting Filled Saturday Continues

Here you'll see the second texture piece which accompanies the first wide piece I posted earlier today. Now I have a "tall" and "wide" painting, otherwise known as a portrait and a landscape piece that could jump start the body of work needed for a "lights on water" series? Either way, things are going great. Lots of paint out right now but the air has been at the mediums all day and most of the night yesterday making it heavier and thicker than normal. When this happens, the paint begins to form a gel almost, somewhere equivalent to painting with semi-dry rubber cement... it's not the most ideal situation. Better put the unusable paints aside and keep on pushin' out these pieces. Deadline is approaching quickly!! :)

-Josh Grabowski

-in case you didn't notice, these pictures were taken with a digital camera, not my phone... much better quality!

Bringing Back Color and Texture

After realizing how much I missed colors while working strictly in black and white I decided to jump head first into my arsenal of pigments! With six primed surfaces (each waiting patiently for me to return back to them), it seemed like a good idea to get creative. These six paintings have many more painting sessions ahead. On that note... headed back to my new babies now.

This piece will be done in the style very similar to Lights on Water (blog title image). This piece is a 12"x24" oil painting on hardboard. All the recent pieces that I am working on share a lot of the same color palettes and all being mixed with Galkyd Lite to promote drying within 24 hours for thinly applied layers.


note from the studio: red oil paint on hands and under nails is very hard to completely remove! forget about it if you get any of it on your clothes! slowly but surely each article of my clothing is going to have some amount of paint on them. occupational hazard.

here comes # two

In relation to the title, this picture is obviously just like my previous rose study... making this completely "original" title: rose study #2. Much more work left with this piece including adding another leaf, color glazing, (and a vase?). Not sure exactly what I want the final piece to look like but excited with each step of the way to completion. Look forward to the final product coming within the next couple days.

I'm going to say that this is one of 6 pieces I hope to finish before Tuesday of next week. Maybe writing it down will get my brush back in my hand and painting! I hope to write about each piece as they progress throughout the weekend to entertain you all with something nice to look at! :)

-Josh Grabowski

a post for post sake

I've been working on a couple piece all at once since I'm working in oils and successively layering the paint. I'm sure that I'll blog a little about each piece later on. Since I seem to have lost my camera in my move, I've been taking pictures of my work with my cell phone. The pictures aren't great, but not too bad. Colors seem washed out and blurry, but it gets the job done. Maybe you are one of the select few to have received a picture mail or two from me already in which case you know what I am talking about.

Anyways, not in much of a "blog" mood right now, but thought it'd be nice to post something. The image above is just a colored pencil study I made the other day of the lemons that had grown on the tree in the backyard. YES! The backyard. Not too many lemon trees around Kenosha, WI...especially this time of year! The colors are very rich and fun! Maybe I should bust out the list from highschool of the 40 aspects that we had to submit; there were actually some pretty creative things on there (anyone reading this who had Mrs. Wells as an art teacher, they know exactly what I am talking about, and for all of you who don't, you're not missing out on much).

side note: coming back to WI in a week. time for jackets! it's going to be a cold ride from the airport though!